I Value You Over Crime Fighting
by Missyfan
Summary: One Shot with Drake and Gosalyn after "Slime Okay You're Okay"


I loved this show as a kid. As an adult, I appreciate the dialogue and the relationships with the characters much more, especially with Darkwing and Gosalyn.

This story takes place the night of "Slime Okay You're Okay". During this episode, Drake showed his competitive nature and disappointment at always losing at games to Gosalyn. He also slipped and said that he preferred to use her to fight crime than to have her as a daughter. All the fans of this show know that that's not true, but Gosalyn was burned enough by this comment to run away from him.

I do not own Darkwing Duck or any of the characters in this story.

Drake and Gosalyn are struggling with her bath. He just wants to rid his daughter of the green slime that threatened to take over her existence, while she just wants out of that bathroom. She continues to splash at him and cries for him to stop. Both ducks are extremely tired. Being awake for thirty six hours straight will do that to you. It could also cause you to act irrationally.

"GOSALYN, WOULD YOU QUIT SPLASHING AND HOLD STILL!"

"Please, please stop it, pleeeease!"

At this point, they have been in the bathroom for almost two hours. It doesn't usually take this long for Gosalyn's bath, but this is the first time that Drake has had a body full a slime to deal with. He had gotten the idea from Bushroot, when, together, they defeated the mutant lawn outside the plant nursery. He's grateful that the soap and water seem to be working, but errs on the side of caution when it comes to deciding when he should be done with the bath. He wants to make sure all signs of the slime are gone.

"Gosalyn, the sooner you hold still, the sooner we can be done with this." He tries to rationalize as he continues to scrub her with the brush.

Gosalyn stops struggling and starts to cry harder. Drake decides that he's scrubbed enough and the slime is probably gone. He lifts her out of the tub, but she doesn't position her legs to stand for him, so he sits her down and dries her off with a towel. Gosalyn is still crying. He picks her up with the towel and carries her into her room. Since Drake is exhausted, he's not thinking about her crying. He just wants to put her to bed so he could go to sleep.

He lays her down on her bed and starts to check her to make sure the slime is completely gone. He knows that any trace of that slime could turn her back into that slime creature again. Gosalyn is crying hysterically now and starts to kick at his stomach.

"Ohh, OUCH, will you quit…. GOSALYN!"

Gosalyn continues to cry and kick at him. He grabs both of her ankles to get her to stop.

"KICK ME AGAIN, AND I'M GOING TA…."

Drake starts to threaten severe punishment, but thinks better of it when he realizes her distress. He's seen Gosalyn cry on a few occasions, but never like this. This isn't like Gosalyn at all. Seeing her like this completely changes his disposition. He's no longer angry, and he forgets how exhausted he is. His focus is on helping his daughter calm down. He gently puts his hand on the side of her face and rubs her tears away with his thumb.

"Shhhh, calm down Sweetheart, everything's going to be okay."

He grabs the shirt that is on her bed and puts it on her. He knows that he will need to get her to calm down in order for her to fall asleep. Gosalyn's never been this upset while in his care, so he's not really sure how to do it. As she continues to cry, he instinctively picks her up and cradles her in his arms with a blanket.

"Alright, alright, Shhhh. I've got you. It's over now, okay? The slime is gone. You're safe now okay, I promise. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

As Drake tends to Gosalyn with a much calmer approach, she starts to relax and stops crying. Drake walks around the room with her slowly as she experiences breathing spasms from her extensive amount of crying. He starts to hum the tune of a lullaby that he made up and sang to her many times before she didn't need him to anymore. Although she allows him to tuck her in on occasion, she's grown out of the bedtime routine that she once had with him singing to her. She does not like being treated like a baby, but at the moment she is not fighting him on it.

After a few minutes, the breathing spasms start to occur less and less. Drake is relieved when he looks down and realizes that Gosalyn is asleep. He did it. He got her to calm down. Calm enough to fall asleep. He is afraid to leave her alone, so he sits on her bed and puts her next to him. He covers her up with her blankets and just watches her sleep for a while. Watching her sleep makes him wonder what he was so angry about. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't worth it. His exhaustion eventually gets the best of him and he too falls asleep.

The next morning, Launchpad checks in on Gosalyn and finds Drake next to her. He is awake, but Gosalyn is still sleeping. Drake sees Launchpad and quickly puts his finger to his beak to motion him to keep quiet. He doesn't want Gosalyn to wake up. It is still pretty early in the Mallard house. The family of three is used to getting up early during the week to send Gosalyn off to school. But today will be different. With the slime incident still fresh in his mind, he's going to keep his daughter home once again to make sure she is alright.

"Do you want some coffee?" Launchpad whispers from across the room.

Drake responds with a nod. He can certainly use a cup of coffee, even if it is a pot that Launchpad will make. He decides to leave Gosalyn to sleep a little longer. But as he slowly removes his arm from underneath her and gets up from her bed, she starts to stir and opens her eyes.

"Shhhh, go back to sleep", he whispers.

Drake rubs her back and waits for her to fall asleep again. When she does, he leaves the room to join Launchpad downstairs.

In the kitchen, Launchpad pours coffee for Drake and for himself. He brings both mugs into the family room where he meets up with Drake. Launchpad has also prepared a bowl of cereal and milk for himself. He starts to eat the cereal, then looks up at Drake and feels bad for not making a bowl for him.

"Eh, sorry DW. Did you want some cereal?"

"No thanks, I'll just stick with the coffee."

Drake takes a sip of the coffee and immediately makes a disgusted face. There wasn't enough water brewed with the coffee, so it is really strong. But he decides to drink more of it. He can use the strong coffee to keep him awake. After he finishes his cereal, Launchpad wants to hear about Gosalyn.

"So, is Gosalyn okay? Do you think the bath worked?"

"I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of the sliminess, LP", Drake confirmed. "But whether or not Gosalyn is okay is yet to be determined?"

"Don't worry DW. Gosalyn has a way of bouncing back from everything that's been thrown at her."

While Drake agrees with Launchpad, he's not so sure about this incident. "You're right. She's been through so many terrible things in her short life, and yet she's managed to hold on to her spirit."

"So, what's the problem?" Launchpad asks

"This time seems different. Gosalyn was so upset last night, I've never seen her that upset before. There was a lot of crying, and kicking and screaming. I wanted to smack her for kicking me. But then I looked at her face and there was so much anger and pain. I can't believe I even thought of hitting her. What kind of father am I?" Drake stands up and starts pacing. A common response for the duck anytime he is stressed and sleep deprived.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, DW", says Launchpad.

"Why not?" asks Drake as he waves his coffee mug around, spilling some coffee in the process. "Why shouldn't I be hard on myself? My daughter gets slimed while trying to _help_ me catch Bushroot, and what do I do? I drag her through the city and force her to help me find him so that I could thwart his plans. I should have just been focusing on finding a cure for her."

"But you did find a cure DW."

"Yeah, after she ran away from me, which was also by the way was my fault. I was so focused on catching Bushroot when I should have been looking out for my daughter."

"But she wanted to help." Launchpad tries. "That's why this whole thing got started in the first place. Gosalyn disobeyed you and in the process she got mixed up with Bushroot's slime formula."

"So are you saying that Gosalyn deserved to turn into a slime creature for disobeying me?" Drake asks with a defensive tone in this voice.

"Hey I would never want anything bad to happen to Gosalyn. But this had a pretty big affect on her. Maybe she can learn from it." Launchpad concludes as he finishes his coffee.

Drake gives him a look before walking over to the steps. It's rare for Launchpad to make sense, and this is one of those rare occasions. Drake also has a problem with Launchpad being right, which isn't so rare. He takes some time to put away laundry and take a shower before checking on Gosalyn.

A few hours later, he quietly walks into Gosalyn's room. It is almost noon, and she is still sleeping. He sits down on her bed and rubs her back. He wants her to wake up so that she is not sleeping all day. He also wants to talk to her and make sure she's okay. He's not sure what he's going to say to her, but he can't put it off. As he rubs her back, she starts to stir. She turns over on her back and rubs her eyes. It takes her a while to wake up but when she does, she focuses her sleepy eyes on Drake.

"Dad?"

Drake smiles and rests his hand on the other side of her.

"Hi Sweetheart. You okay?" He asks in a gentle voice.

"Dad, I don't feel so good. Do I really have to go to school?" she asks in a sleepy voice.

Drake's heart melts at his daughter's question. It is not unusual for Gosalyn to try and trick him into thinking that she is too sick to go to school, but today it is not necessary. He has already made up his mind to keep her home today.

"No Gos, no school today. I don't think your teacher would appreciate me dropping you off at school at noon."

"Noon? It's noon? Why am I still in bed? Am I sick?"

Drake gives Gosalyn a curious look. Is it possible that she doesn't remember what happened? He lifts her and her pillow so that she could sit up and lean against it. "Gos, what's the last thing you remember?"

Gosalyn looks at him for a few seconds before answering. "I, I remember Bushroot. I wanted to help you catch him. I found out where he was, and took my skateboard out." She hesitates before she continues. "You told me not to. You were really mad at me. And it's because of me Bushroot got away. I'm so sorry Dad."

"Gosalyn" Drake tries to interrupt, but Gosalyn insists on continuing her story with tears in her eyes.

"You kept yelling at me for always disobeying you and always getting into trouble. I kept saying that I was sorry but you wouldn't listen. You said that you couldn't be my friend because you are my father."

"Gos" Drake tries to interrupt again since Gosalyn is starting to cry.

"When we got home you pulled me upstairs. You yelled at me because my room was a mess. You told me to clean it up and go to bed."

Drake cups her face with both hands. She has tears running down her face. "Honey I'm sorry that I yelled at you like that. I was angry and I lost my temper. What you did was wrong, but I know I could have handled it differently."

Gosalyn starts to calm down, seeing that her father is not nearly as upset as he was with her that night.

"Gos, is that the last thing you remember?"

Gosalyn is confused. "Uh huh. That was last night wasn't it?"

Drake can't believe it. Gosalyn has no memory of being a slime creature. He can't decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

"Dad, what is it? What's going on?"

Drake treads lightly with telling her the events of the previous day. He knows he has to tell her, in case she starts to remember on her own.

"Gos, something happened to you when you tried to help me catch Bushroot."

Gosalyn starts to get nervous, so Drake hesitates before he has to continue. "Please tell me what happened."

"You came in contact with one of his chemicals, and it transformed you into a slime creature."

"Really?" She gasps "I was a slime creature? Did I have super powers? That sounds way cool, Dad. Why are you making it sound so bad?"

"Because, it wasn't a good thing. You initially thought it was cool. You got to miss school and you ate everything in sight. You had the ability to slide underneath doors and in between sewer bars. And because of that I let you help me look for Bushroot."

Gosalyn is confused. "So what is so bad about that? I wanted to help you, right?"

"Yes but… it got to a point where you didn't want to help me anymore, and I didn't listen. I insisted on you helping me when you just wanted to go back to being my daughter. I should have stopped right then and just focused on finding a cure for you."

Gosalyn is sad. She can't imagine not wanting to help her father fight crime, but she believes what he is telling her.

Drake continues. "I messed up Gos, and I'm really sorry. I would never want you to be anything or anyone besides yourself. You are the most important person in the world to me. More important than crime fighting and more important than winning."

Gosalyn giggles, which confuses Drake.

"Hey, what's so funny?" He asks.

"You're not trying to tell me that you let me win every time I beat you at board games are you?"

"Would you believe me if I did?" Drake asks sarcastically.

Gosalyn doesn't answer. Instead she smiles and gives him a hug, which he returns. She has no memory of the previous day, but if it gives her a day off from school and attention from her father she'll take it.

"So what happened to Bushroot?" Gosalyn asks as she pulls out of the hug.

"I let him go."

"You let him go? Why would you do that?" Gosalyn asks.

Drake brushes his fingers under her beak. "Because, he let you go. And I value you over crime fighting."

The End


End file.
